A couple of weeks back, the Chicago Tribune reported on a racist bootleg "Horry Cow" Chicago Cubs t-shirt design being sold around Wrigley Field, referring to Japanese player Kosuke Fukudome. Cubs officials quickly responded, ordering vendors who sell Major League Baseball merchandise around the park to stop selling the shirts, and getting the company that manufactured the shirts to agree to stop making them.
However, it seems that a large number of the shirts still exist, and the ban hasn't stopped vendors with city licenses to stop selling them: Cubs can't stop all sales of offensive Kosuke Fukudome T-shirt. It seems that a lot of invididuals selling (and wearing) the shirts have adopted the "not hurting anyone" mentality, despite the fact that Fukudome himself has called the shirts offensive.
Unfortunately, while the Cubs forced many souvenir stands to remove the shirts last month, the team has no say over the street vendors, as long as they aren't selling the shirts on club property. You had to figure this was going to happen. Once the damn things became "outlawed," demand for them probably skyrocketed. Ignorance runs rampant on the streets of Wrigleyville. That's racist!
, then a panel discussion on Asian/Asian American pop culture, featuring a bunch of notable personalities who might know a thing or two on the topic. Here are the details:
